


A Sign to Remember

by niallsecretluvr



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-14
Updated: 2015-03-14
Packaged: 2018-03-17 20:15:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3542414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niallsecretluvr/pseuds/niallsecretluvr





	1. Introduction

Niall’s P.O.V.

 

We, the boys and I, came to this little town in the middle of Nebraska to do a signing. We were stuck in this small hotel. Paul said that we couldn’t go outside and look around, just in case some crazy fans tried to take us. Naturally, we didn’t listen.

“Hurry up, Lou,” Harry whisper-yelled up the terrace to Louis.

“I’m going as fast as I can,” Louis called back down.

“That’s obviously not fast enough,” I heard Zayn mummer under his breath.

When Louis finally got on the ground, we decided to head in a random direction. There wasn’t much activity this late at night, which was good. We were walking when we found a random deserted-looking park. I looked at the lads. We decided, why not have some fun? We took off towards the merry-go-round. The lads and I sat down and decided to take in the scenery. Not as good as some places, but better than others.

We were just about to leave, when I heard something ‘pop’. ‘What in the h-‘ I thought, but was interrupted by a whole bunch of water being poured onto me and the lads. The water, or what I thought was water, was freezing cold. It was about mid-August, so it wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t the best either.

“Gotcha Rach!” I heard a voice coming from the left of me.

“No you didn’t,” the girl named Rach said, “I’m over here by the swings.”

“Maybe you got Kit,” yet another voice from somewhere over to the right of me said.

“I don’t think so Risa,” the first voice said. She was still standing fairly close to us.

“Where is Kit anyway?” asked Rach.

There was a sound like Niagara Falls coming from the direction of Rach’s voice. Then there was a shrill noise that cut through the air. “Kit!” Rach screamed.

There was a burst of laughter from near the swings. “I’m sorry Rachel. I couldn’t help it. You just gave yourself away. Plus, I thought it was LeAnn until you two spoke.”

“Well hate to disappoint you Kit, but I’m over here by the merry-go-round. But if you guys are over there, then who’s here?” the girl to my left, LeAnn, said.

“Are you sure you got someone?” the final girl, or Risa, asked.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure,” LeAnn said sounding alert all of a sudden.

“Maybe it’s a mass murderer who was sent to kill you,” Risa said spookily.

“Risa!” Kit yelled, “don’t say stuff like that. It’s probably just an animal or something.”

They all sounded really close by now. All of a sudden, there were four bright lights fixed upon our faces. They were really bright, like blinding bright. We just sat there squinting towards the light not moving just in case.

I heard a gasp. “It’s One Direction!” Rachel screamed.

“Shhh!” the girl Kit said, “Someone could hear you and we could all get in trouble!”

“Oh,” she said quieter, “sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Liam said using a too sweet voice.

“Liam, not helping,” Zayn mumbled under his breath.

“Hey, could you please not shine the light in our eyes,” I asked saying what everyone was thinking.

“Oh, sorry about that,” Risa said as they all pointed their flashlights at the ground.

“So, who are you anyway?” Louis sassed at them.

“Oh, we forgot to introduce ourselves,” Kit said not even noticing Louis’s sass.

“I’m Kitra,” she said pointing her flashlight as herself. She was wearing a brown sweatshirt that read Aeropostal, a pair of blue jeans, and a nice tan pair of toms. Her golden-brown hair was thrown back into a bun. She smiled a warm smile.

“I’m Rachel,” Rachel said as the girls pointed their flashlights at her. She was wearing jean shorts, a blue tank top, and some light brown sandals. Half of her dark brown hair was in a ponytail while the rest of it framed her face. A blue headband kept her hair back.

“I’m Marisa,” she said, everyone switched the position of their flashlights so that they were on her. Marisa was wearing a striped t-shirt that hugged her body, faded jeans, and Nike tennis shoes. Her almost bleach blonde hair was falling slightly past her shoulders. Louis slowly whistled, but quickly looked away.

“And I’m LeAnn,” the final girl said as each person slowly shifted their lights toward her. She had her light brown hair with the occasional blonde highlight put into a beautiful side braid with a little purple bow at the end. She was wearing a purple shirt that was tied back. The shirt had white writing on it. She also had on dark jeans and brown-heeled flip-flops.

“Nice to meet you,” Zayn said, right before someone’s phone vibrated. Marisa took out her phone and looked at it, then turned to the girls.

“We have to go,” she said. She turned to us. “It was nice to finally met u.”

“Hey!” Harry said jumping up, “are we going to see you again?” Leave it up to Harry to ask that question.

“Of course,” Kitra said flashing a smile at Harry, “we’re going to the signing tomorrow. So we’ll see you there.”

“Good,” Louis answered for Harry, “I can’t wait.” I’m sure I just imagined it, but I swore Louis winked at Marisa.

“Come on Niall,” Zayn said offering a hand to help me up. I took it and stood up. I turned to tell LeAnn goodbye, but she was already walking up a hill, which, evidently, leads to Marisa’s house.

“Don’t worry Niall. You’ll see her tomorrow,” Liam said trying to cheer me up. We started to walk back towards the hotel. I couldn’t wait until tomorrow.


	2. Breakfast

Niall’s P.O.V.

The next morning I woke up early, excited to see LeAnn again. I looked around at everyone else; they were still asleep. I peered at the clock and noticed that it was 5:30 a.m. I sighed and tried to go back to sleep, but my overexcited mind kept thinking about the gorgeous girl I met late last night.

I turned over in my bed so that I lay on my back, and stared at the ceiling. I kept thinking about how beautiful she looked standing there with all the lights on her. She was absolutely breath taking. A smile slowly crept onto my face just thinking about her. I didn’t realize it, but I started to fall asleep with LeAnn in my dreams…

“Hey Niall, mate, it’s time to get up for the signing. You don’t want to be late,” Harry said shaking me awake.

“What time is it?” I asked groggily.

“About 9 o’clock,” Harry answered, “why?”

“Because we need to be there at 10,” I said getting up and starting to get dressed.

“Calm down, Niall. We’ll get there soon enough,” Harry said, turning to leave, “Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. There are some pancakes and sausages downstairs for you.” He left the bedroom and headed to the cafeteria downstairs.

With the mere mention of food, my stomach started to growl. I searched for my t-shirt and snapback, since my hair was a mess. I found both of them and put them on. I made sure that I was decent before I left to head down to the cafeteria.

After I made my way to the mini cafe, I got some pancakes and sausages. I looked around the room for the lads and found them in the corner booth.

“Hey guys,” I said as I sat down next to Louis.

“Morning Niall,” everyone greeted.

“So when are we leaving for the signing?” I asked.

“A little eager to get back to LeAnn, huh?” Louis teased. Everyone laughed, except for me.

“Of course he is,” Liam joked.

“He was in quite a hurry to get there this morning,” Harry said, still laughing.

I just ignored them and continued with my breakfast. They’re just jealous. That’s it. They’re just jealous.

“Right Niall?” Zayn asked pulling my out of my thoughts.

“Huh?” I asked completely clueless. They laughed.

“We were wondering if you thought the food was great,” Liam said after everyone calmed down enough for him to be heard.

“Oh, yeah. It’s wonderful,” I said absent-mindedly. I finished eating the last bite of my sausage, completing my meal.

“Cool,” Harry said, getting up from the other side of the table, “I’ll be upstairs getting ready.”

“Try not to take too long curling your hair,” Louis teased, while he nudged for me to get up. I got up and took my now cleared plate to the garbage. The rest of the boys vacated the booth and left to get ready. I stayed behind for a little bit and watched the news on the TV.

They had just started doing a report about some sounds and flashing lights that were seen and heard at the park late last night. “We’re here with one of the fellow citizens who lives in a house near the park. Then, a woman came on who was a little on the heavy side. She said with her eyes bugged out, ‘I was awoken by a shrill scream that scared the daylights out of me. I looked out the windows and saw some bright lights that were coming from the park. I turned to wake up my husband, who was sound asleep, but when I looked back to show my husband, the lights had mysteriously vanished.’ She then exited the scene. ‘And there you have it. Someone was at the park late at night and disturbed the peace. Police are now investigating. Until then, this is Holly Weatherby signing out.”

‘Wow, Nebraskans are weird,’ I thought to myself.

“You are new here aren’t you?” I turned around to find a medium height girl with short chopped hair and thick-framed glasses. She pulled out the chair next to me and sat down. She straddled the chair, much unlike a girl.

“Um, can I help you?” I asked cautiously. So far, she hasn’t screamed, so maybe she’s okay.

“Oh, I just couldn’t help but noticing that you were alone and talking to yourself, mumbling something about Nebraskans,” she said almost bored.

“Oh,” I said feeling my cheeks warm, “I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

“Well, you can’t take it back can you?” she replied back with so much sass Louis would’ve been proud.

“I guess not,” I said still not wanting to look her in the eye.

“It’s ok. Most people around here don’t have lives or nothing better to do than report about stupid, silly things, like people in a public park.” I honestly didn’t know what to say to that.

“Well, I have to get going. I’ll see you ‘round,” she said before she got up and left me sitting stupidly at the table.

“Niall, mate, you coming?” Liam poked his head into the cafeteria.

“Yeah, I’m coming,” I said getting up from the table and making my way over to him. He put his arm calmly around mine. We walked like that upstairs, into our hotel room.

“Here comes the brides all dressed in pajamas,” Louis joked as we walked in.

“Go away, Lou,” I shot back as Liam detached from me and went to grab his bags. I went over to my bed and grabbed the few things I needed for the signing.

“Let’s go guys,” Louis said hurrying out of the room.

“Looks like Niall’s not the only one who anxious to get there,” Zayn said with a smirk.

“It’s that Marisa girl. He hasn’t been this ready to go in a long time,” Harry said as-a-matter-of-factly. He left the room and followed Louis downstairs to the rental car that was waiting.

“You think Harry’s anxious, too?” Zayn asked, picking up a hint on the way Harry hustled down the stairs.

“You never really know with Harry,” Liam and I said at the same time. We laughed and the three of us joined the other two outside. We filed into the car and drove for about 10 miles until we finally arrived. Nothing really happened on the way there, which isn’t normal. Guess we were all anxious for some weird reason. We all got out and walked towards the huge building.


	3. The Signing

LeAnn’s P.O.V.

 

“OMG guys! We’re going to see them again!” I shrieked at the others. I was in a major fangirl state-of-mind.

“LeAnn, calm down,” Rachel said rolling her eyes. They were all tired of me already. We were all in Marisa’s grandma's car headed to the boys’ signing. I was up way earlier than everyone else was. But, that’s nothing new.

We had 20 minutes to ride before we got there, but I was an excited little ball of energy. I just couldn’t wait to see Niall again. After I got over the initial shock of seeing the boys, I gathered up all my energy and actually said something without fainting. It was a miracle.

Kitra, Marisa, Rachel, and I had a little trouble falling asleep last night. We couldn’t stop talking about what had happened. We finally got to sleep though. I was the first one to wake up, then Kitra, then Rachel, then finally Risa. We waited for her parents to get up before we got in the car and started on our way.

“Hey Risa, you’re not talking much. Is everything alright?” Kit asked looking at Risa with concerned eyes.

“Yeah, I’m alright. I’m just thinking,” Marisa replied still looking out the window at the passing scenery. Kitra shrugged and returned to her iPod. After that, we were mostly quiet for the rest of the ride to the Event Center, where the signing is. When we finally arrived, we all filed out of the car.

“I’ll be back here in 2 hours to pick you up. I’m going to go shopping. Marisa, do you need anything? No? Okay, then. You have my cell phone number, so call me if you need anything. Have fun!” and with that, Marisa’s grandmother left us standing stupidly in the parking lot.

“We better get going if we want a spot in line,” Marisa said already heading inside. The rest of us followed her looking a bit like a posse. There were crowds of people coming in from everywhere. Most of the people filing into the building were young teenage girls holding merchandise and talking excitedly.

When we got inside, we were hit with the sound of hundreds of girl screaming. It took a while to adjust to the sound, but once we did, we looked around. The interior of the building was spectacular. The ceiling was a high arch high above everyone, which was probably good for carrying sound. It had elegant paintings of what looked like angels. (It was too high for me to see them properly.) When you walked, they seemed to move around freely. The architecture was incredible; the swirling designs along the ceiling and walls could have you mesmerized for hours.

“LeAnn, come on,” Rachel said as she grabbed my arm and dragged me towards the gradually increasing line. We pushed past about a dozen people to get in line with Risa and Kit. They both had their items out talking excitedly when we joined them.

“I saw the cutest little alpaca on Tumblr last night. I reblogged it. Did you see it?” asked Marisa feverishly.

“Actually I did. Did you see the picture of the adorable kittens in the little picnic basket?” Kit asked practically jumping up and down.

"Omg! Yes! They were sooo adorbs!” Marisa squealed. “Oh, hey guys.” She said when she saw us randomly appear next to her.

“Hey,” Rach replied, “so what about the kittens?” Wrong question to ask.

“Omg! I, or we, saw the cutest little kittens ever. They were gathered in a big picnic basket. Only their heads were showing and they had some crumbs from the picnic on their little whiskers. It was adorable.” Marisa said in a record of 15 seconds.

“Okay, slow down there, Risa,” I said, not catching anything of what she just said. Because just then, someone grabbed Marisa’s wrist. Big mistake. Marisa swirled around and smacked their hand until they let go. She looked up at her attacker; it was Louis. We were at the front of the line and didn’t even notice.

“That was rude,” Louis said, with quite a bit of sass.

“And what you did was sooo unlady-like,” Marisa immediately snapped back.

“Okay girls, stop arguing. We have to finish this so we can go to the interview later,” Liam said jokingly at first, then suddenly serious.

“Humph,” Louis grumbled as he grabbed Marisa’s cd from her hands and signed them. He then passed them to Harry, who was sitting next to him. Harry took and signed them, smiled at Marisa, then gave them to Zayn. Zayn smiled at Harry then Marisa, signed the cd, and sent them off to Liam. Liam received them from Zayn, signed them, and passed them to Niall with a smile. Niall smiled back at Liam and maybe even winked before signing the cd and handing them to Marisa. Our cds where handled the same way.

Surprisingly no words were said during this. Rachel, who was the last one of us, got her cd back and we called Marisa’s grandma to come pick us up. She said she was at the store and she needed to get a couple more things, then she would be over to get us. We really had nothing to do, so we just waited inside. Lucky for us, we all brought reading books, so all we did was read.

“Wow. Your form of entertainment is really weird,” I heard a thick British voice say. I was the only one who looked up, because I just finished a chapter. It was Harry looking at me with a judging stare. I just gave him a ‘what-is-wrong-with-you’ look and returned to my book.

“So what books you reading?” Harry asked in a curious, yet uninterested voice. As though we were one, all four of us lift up our books to show them to him. He didn’t even bother to look at them. He just walked away in search of the other boys. Marisa’s phone started vibrating abruptly, telling us that her grandma was in the parking lot waiting for us.

“Well, time to go,” Marisa said, grabbing her bag and standing up.

“You’re leaving already?” came a wine from somewhere to our left.

“Yes we are, Louis,” Rachel called back defiantly. Louis stepped out of the shadows.

“Do you have to go?” he asked, eyes pleading. I know he was talking to all of us, but it seemed a little pointed towards Marisa.

“Yes we do. Marisa’s grandma is waiting outside for us and she might leave us if we’re late,” Kit explained. That was probably true. She was most likely going to leave us if we didn’t go now.

“Can I at least have your number?” asked Louis, “you know, for um…” he couldn’t seem to finish his thought.

“Not right now,” Rachel said grabbing Kitra and Marisa and dragging them to the parking lot with her. I smiled to myself as I brought out a small piece of paper. I quickly scribbled Marisa’s number onto it and handed it to Lou. He smiled at me and melted back into the shadows. I had to double my pace in order to catch up with the others. Luckily, they didn’t seem to notice that I just appeared.


	4. Preparation

Niall’s P.O.V.

I could tell Louis was excited to get Marisa’s number. I don’t know exactly what it was that told me, but it might have had to do with how he didn’t talk about anything else.

“And if it hadn’t been for LeAnn,” Lou recounted for the millionth time, “I would have never gotten Marisa’s number.” He smiled triumphantly.

“Now I kinda wish he hadn’t,” I heard Harry mutter under his breath. Evidently, Louis didn’t hear him. We all sat in the back of the taxi, which was taking us back to the hotel. I was trying to sleep, since I didn’t get that much this morning, but with no such luck. Louis kept talking about Marisa’s number, Liam and Harry were playing ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’, and Zayn, who was already asleep, was starting to snore really loudly. Honestly, I just gave up.

When we arrived at the hotel, it was swarming with girls, like usual. We stepped out of the taxi as Paul tried to push away the crowd so we could get inside. Once inside, we all headed up to the rooms. It had been a long day and I couldn’t wait to get some long-awaited sleep. I lay down on my bed and curled up under the covers. I was just about to sleep.

“Niall!” I heard someone yell at me. I just rolled over and opened one eye. It was Louis.

“Niall! I have a text for you!” Louis shoved his phone into my face. It took my eyes a little time to adjust, but I’d managed to read it. ‘Hey Lou, would you mind giving this number to Niall? It’s mine and I kinda want him to have it, just in case. Thanks, LeA <3’

“Isn’t that great?” Louis said with a bucket load of excitement. “You’ll be able to get LeAnn’s number.” Oh, so that’s who LeA is.

“Great! Can I sleep now?” I asked, hoping for a nice yes.

“Don’t you want to add it to your contacts?” he asked. Somehow, I knew that if I didn’t, he would bug me until I did.

“Fine,” I replied. I rolled over in bed, grabbed my phone from the nightstand, and entered her number. I looked at her name in my phone. I would call her later, but right now, all I needed was rest.

“Good night Louis,” I said drifting back to sleep.

“Night Niall,” I heard him say before I drifted off completely.

~~~

I woke up this morning to the sound of screaming girls. Uh, can’t they ever just shut up! I just sighed and got out of bed, not exactly ready to start the day. I looked down and realized that I was still in my clothes from yesterday. Oh well.

I switched clothes and looked at my clock on the nightstand. 9:45 a.m. We’re leaving here at 7 tonight. That was just the perfect amount of time to set up a date. I reached over, unlocked my phone, and clicked on her name. ‘Hey LeA’ Nah, that didn’t sound right. I tried again. ‘Hey LeAnn’ Now what?

“Morning, Niall,” Liam said entering the room and sitting down next to me on the bed, “What’cha you doing?”

“Texting LeAnn, except I’m not sure what to say,” I replied rubbing the back of my neck.

“What do you have so far?” Liam asked looking over my shoulder at my phone. “That’s not much mate,” he said after he saw my two-word text.

“I told you, I’m absolute crap at this,” I said back. I heard Liam laugh. “What?” I asked.

“You really like her, don’t you?” he asked with a glimmer in his eyes.

“Maybe,” I whispered under my breath, but evidently loud enough for Liam to hear.

“Are you going to ask her out?” Liam looked at me with a quizzical, almost expectant look.

“Um,” I said, not knowing what to say.

“You better,” Liam said looking me in the eye, “you don’t want anyone to beat you to her, do you?”

“What if someone already has?” I asked, the question just dawning on me. I didn’t realize how much this actually bugged me.

“Only one way to find out,” Liam answered back. I sighed knowing he was right. “It’s not that hard, you know.” Liam said. I re-unlocked my phone and texted her.

‘Hey LeAnn, this is Niall. I was just wondering what you were doing today. We’re not leaving until 7 tonight, so I was wondering if we could hang out.’ Now all I had to do was wait for LeAnn to answer back.

“See, that wasn’t so hard, now was it?” Liam asked. I shook my head. Liam nodded and left the room.

~~~

‘Hey Niall. I see that Louis gave you my number. I was just planning to stay home. I guess you could come over if you want.’

‘Great, but I don’t know where you live…’

‘Remember the park? Just meet me there at 10.’

‘Ok. Do I need anything?’

‘No. Just you, yourself, and some clothes.’

‘Ha-ha. Ok. See you then.’

‘See ya.’

It’s a date. I looked at the clock and noticed it said 9:52. I only had eight minutes until I had to be at the park. Crap.

“How’d it go?” Zayn asked entering my room.

“Fine.” I mumbled.

“Really?” Zayn asked. I wasn’t paying too much attention to him, since I needed to grab my things and figure out how I was going to get through the mob of girls outside.

“Looks like it went great to me,” Zayn noted. I turned around and found that he had my phone and was going through my messages.

“Hey!” I protested. I lunged towards Zayn, but hit my bed instead since he turned at the last moment.

“Aww! Niall doesn’t want me seeing his love life,” Zayn teased. I leapt at him again, but was greeted by the floor. I got back up and looked around, but I couldn’t find him. Shit. I looked around my room to see if he set it down, but I couldn’t find it. He must have taken it downstairs with him. Great. I tugged on my sweatshirt, my shoes and a pair of sunglasses, and ran downstairs.

I reached the lobby and found my phone sitting perfectly unharmed on the chair’s arm. Weird. I looked around skeptically, but I couldn’t find the boys. I somehow knew they were behind this. I slowly walked over and took it. I expected something to happen, but nothing did. Phew. I grabbed my phone and turned to go sneak out the back exit.

“Where are you going?” Harry questioned, randomly appearing next to me.

“Out.” I replied trying to push past him.

“Are you going to go see your girly-friend?” Harry smirked. I stopped in my tracks, causing Harry to crash into me.

“She’s not my girlfriend.” I said irritated with everyone trying to decipher my love life.

“Sorry mate. I just thought…” Harry said looking ashamed.

“Well, you thought wrong,” I snapped back as I left him standing there. I normally would’ve felt bad and tried to make him feel better, but not today. I’ve had enough. I finally found the back exit and left. Luckily, no one followed me. I put my hood up and hailed a taxi. The driver didn’t recognize me.

He dropped me off at the park where I first met the girls. I thanked him and paid. I looked around to find LeAnn, but she wasn’t here yet. I took a seat on the merry-go-round and pulled out my phone. I was just about to text her.

“Did you know there’s a song called Merry-go-round?” LeAnn asked as she sat down next to me. She was wearing a pair of jean shorty-shorts, a loose peach-colored striped shirt, and brown flip-flops. Her hair was in a high ponytail and her bangs were pinned back.

“Um, no?” I said uncertain whether to answer or not.

“It’s by Kacey Musgraves. I think it’s a good song,” she said turning to look at me. I quickly looked at the ground. “Do you want to hear it?”

“Sure,” I replied. She smiled then took her bag off her shoulders. She dug around in it for a little bit before pulling her tablet out. She unlocked it, without showing me her password, found the song, and played it for me.

“Sorry about it being country. I’ve listen to country since I was little,” she explained looking a little regretful.

“That’s okay. I like girls who have a variety,” I declared. LeAnn looked at me quizzically. “I mean for a friend.”

“Yeah, okay,” she kidded. She looked back out to the landscape in front of the park. The music was still playing in the background.

“So, um, since I’m going to be here for a while, I was just wondering if maybe we could, you know, just…” I couldn’t get out what I wanted to say.

“Hang out?” LeAnn offered, giving me a quizzical look.

“Um, yeah,” I said rubbing my hand on the back of my neck. I wasn’t good at things like this.

“Alright,” she said getting up. She grabbed her bag and shouldered it, “Since we only have until seven, we should get started.” She turned around, tablet in hand, and started in the direction she must have come from. I just sat there watching her go.

“Are you coming or not?” she called behind her. I scrambled up, almost falling over. “Careful. Don’t want the superstar to get a booboo,” she teased as I caught up with her.

“You’re not like the other girls, are you?” I noted as it dawned on me.

“What helped you come to that conclusion?” she asked seeping sarcasm.

“I’m just that smart,” I replied, equally sarcastic. She just laughed as she nudged my arm, making me sway a little bit. She had a really cute laugh.

“Whatever floats you boat,” she stated. This time we both laughed. We began our walk like that: laughing, talking, and listening to Merry-Go-Round.


	5. Secrets

LeAnn’s P.O.V.

 

“Alright,” I said as we walked down Main Street, “Cookie or cream?” We were playing our own version of ‘Coke or Pepsi’. We were about halfway to my house.

“That’s not fair. You keep asking me about food,” Niall complained.

“Stop whining and just answer the question,” I said matching his feet as he walked.

He just sighed as we turned the corner. He’s done this every time I’ve asked a question. “I would have to say… Cookie,” he sighed the last word and looked down as if he was ashamed of his choice.

“Cool. I like the Cream better, though. But it doesn’t matter,” I said hoping he would get over his little guilt mood.

“I know,” he said perking up a little bit, “My turn. Hmm.” As he contemplated what he wanted to ask me, we rounded the final turn to get to my house. We only had one block and we would arrive. “Coffee or tea?” He asked looking extremely proud of this question. He had this smug smile on his face.

“That’s easy,” I replied, “Tea. Preferable straight, but I can have some sugar in it.” Niall’s smile fell when he realized it was easier than he thought. I nudged him, causing him to smile. “Alright, we’re here.”

He looked up at my white palace-like mansion and his jaw dropped. I was used to this reaction since no one thought I could live in something so, well, beautiful. “Come on Pretty Boy,” I sighed as I grabbed his arm and dragged him towards my house. I opened the door and pushed Niall inside. “Braxton, I’m going to be upstairs. I have a friend with me,” I yelled to our butler, who practically managed the house. My voice echoed through the mansion as I showed Niall around.

“This is the main room,” I said spreading out my arms to indicate the room where we entered. I continued to the left. “And this is the kitchen. It’s huge,” I stated, looking over at Niall whose mouth was even wider than when he first saw the house. I smiled a small smile and left the kitchen.

“There are some more rooms down here, but they're not important,” I said waving my hand and started to climb the long ascending staircase. I turned around to see if Niall was following me, only to be greeted with the sight of him trying to sneak an armful of snacks from the kitchen. I just rolled my eyes and waited for him to catch up with me.

“Got enough?” I asked as we started up the stairs.

“Actually, I think I could use some pizza,” Niall replied jokingly.

“You never know, maybe if you stay until lunch, you might get some,” I teased, giving him a small smirk.

“I guess I’m just going to have to stay a while,” he said returning my smirk with a smile. I rolled my eyes and turned down the hall to the right.

“My bedroom’s just down the hall,” I said turning around to make sure he was still there. He was. He smiled an adorable smile and hummed merrily to himself. He was so adorable sometimes. We turned to the left and entered my room. “Here we are.”

“Wow, it’s huge,” he said gawking at my bedroom. Well, I don’t blame him. I was the same way when I came in after we bought the place. To call it a bedroom would be an understatement. It does have my bed in it, but it also has enough room for a kitchen and a bathroom (which I have) and a living room. It’s the smallest room in the house, which says a lot.

“I have my lounging ‘room’ in the farthest corner of my bedroom,” I said giving Niall a tour of my bedroom, “All my electronics are over there.” I have my video games, along with my flat-screen television, are right in front of my plush-covered beanbag. I have my Wii console and remotes sitting in the glass cabinet. My laptop is lying on my nest of beanbags, blankets, and pillows. My iPhone 5 and Kindle Fire HD are sitting next to my laptop.

“In the corner to the left, is my ‘mini’ kitchen,” I said moving towards it. “It’s equipped with a microwave, a full-sized fridge, about 30 cabinets, and a sink. I keep many of my favorite foods up here. Like ice cream, Pringles, Oreos, Chex Mix, and Chocolate. I normally don’t go downstairs for anything; I have all I want in my room.

“Anyway, over there to the right is my bathroom,” I said, then burst out laughing at the look Niall pulled, “Don’t worry, it smells like flowers.” Then I laughed even harder as he made a different face and just walked towards my bean-bag/blanket/pillow nest. He dropped his armful of food onto my nest and sat down next to it. I just smiled, acquired a can of root beer and an ice cream sandwich, and joined Niall in front of my TV.

“So, what do you think of my house?” I asked, knowing I would get the same answer I got from everyone else.

“It’s just beautiful. And huge,” he looked at me, “I wish I could live here.” I was used to giving the answer, ‘yeah, it’s great.’ But for some reason I figured I could tell him the truth.

“Yeah, it’s wonderful living here and having your ‘friends’ come over just to be in your house and play with your stuff and not even pay you any attention,” I started pacing around my room like I do every time I’m mad, “Because they just get close to you so they can get into your house and occasionally take your things, because my life is so great and wonderful and everyone just wants to have it and I would gladly let them.”

I stopped, realizing that I just went on a rant with a scared Niall looking up at me. My breath hitched and I ran out of my room, down the hall, and into the guest room. I can’t believe I just did that. I don’t normally tell people what I think. ‘Don’t tell people your problems, because 80% don’t care and the remaining 20% are glad you have them.’ That’s what I always say. I covered my face with my hands, and lightly sobbed into them.

I was too busy feeling sorry for myself to realize that I was not alone. I felt a pair of callused hands take my own away from my tear-streaked face. “Don’t worry. I understand how you feel.” Niall said sitting across from me, still holding my hands, “Everyone forgets that I have feelings, because I’m so famous. They go around saying whatever they think. No one knows it, but it really hurts, especially when the boys tease me, too.”

I looked up into his true-blue eyes. “It’s the same thing with me,” I said, “the girls always say things and they just laugh. They don’t understand that it hurts at times. Sometimes they even shun me and blame me for everything. Every once in a while, I just want to be alone or I’m deep in thought, and they think I’m mad at them. Then they just say I’m in a ‘mood’ and they leave me, when I just really want someone to stay by me. I’ve never really had anyone who could be there all the time. Because my true best friend lives so far away from me. It’s just hard.”

“Exactly, though it’s a little different with me. The boys just shun me when I randomly laugh at everything. They think it’s absolutely annoying and they just leave me, hoping that I’ll stop. They normally don’t like to talk to me about the really ‘adult’ things, because I’m ‘too much like a kid’. At least, that’s what I’ve heard from Louis and Zayn,” Niall said not breaking eye contact.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“Don’t be,” he smiled back.

I blushed and returned his smile. He let go of my hands to caress my face. We both leaned in and I closed my eyes. I was about to get my first kiss.

“LeAnn!” a very high-pitched feminine voice called from downstairs. I swore as I opened my eyes and saw a surprised/embarrassed Niall. “I’m sorry. That’s my mom. I have to go.” I felt so bad, and disappointed, and maybe even a little angry. I could have had my first kiss if it wasn’t for my mother. I pulled the door opened and hurried downstairs.

“Oh, LeAnn, there you are. So, your step-dad and I are going out to eat and see a movie. You’re going to be home with Braxton. Call him if you need anything,” and with that my mother walked out the door. I just sighed and headed back upstairs. I don’t know why she had to tell me that, since she normally leaves without telling me anything, then I just find out from Braxton.

I hurried up the stairs to go find Niall. “Niall?” I called. I checked in my room. Nothing. I looked in every room upstairs, just in case. I looked in the guest bedroom, which probably made the most sense, but he wasn’t there either. I guess he left. I didn’t realize that this kinda bugged me.

I walked back to my room and sat down on my pillow/blanket/beanbag construction. He left me. Wow. So much for a close friend. I pulled out my Wii controllers, put in Mario Kart, and started a Grand Prix. I was on my final race. “Stupid Bowser!” I yelled at the TV. I was first then he decided that he was going to pull up in front of me. “Take that!” I yelled as I let a red shell hit Bowser. “Yes!” I cheered as I finished first. Now I have 60 total points and a gold trophy.

“Wow, you’re really good at that.” I spun around to find Niall standing in my bedroom doorway.

“I thought you left,” I said putting down my controller and spinning my entire body towards him.

“Naw, I just decided to look around the house and I found this secret passageway. I followed it and it led to, well, I’ll just show you,” Niall said coming over to me and helping me up. “This way.” He led me back to the guest room and moved a bookshelf to reveal a closet door.

“It’s just a closet door, Niall. There’s nothing special about it,” I said stating the obvious.

“That’s what I thought at first, then I was like ‘why would someone hide a closet behind a bookshelf?’ So I decided to check it out. Go ahead and open it,” he said standing back so I could reach the handle. I pulled it and it opened into a dark space.

“You can go first,” I said ushering Niall to take the lead. He led me through a very short hallway and into a huge room. “Wow,” I whistled as I took in my surroundings. The place was beautiful. There were chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, long tables spread around, and the best part was the bookshelves that lined every inch of the wall.

“A hidden library. I figured you’d like it,” Niall said smiling at me, “There’s more.” He grabbed my hand and led me through a ‘less secretive’ hallway, which seemed to get even smaller the farther you went. When I knew I couldn’t go any farther, it opened up to a smaller room. This one didn’t have anything in it, but was a pretty good-sized room.

“This is the end, but you could still use it for something,” Niall stated, “for like a party or,”

“An escape,” we both said simultaneously. We shared another smile, just like the one back in the guest room.

“You’re really beautiful,” Niall said stepping a little closer.

“You’re not too bad yourself,” I teased, closing the small space between us. I linked my arms around his neck as he hooked his near the small of my back. I looked up into his crystal blue eyes and closed the little gap between his lips and mine. He kissed me back softly at first then more passionate. He picked me up and started to spin me. I broke from the kiss to let a soft giggle escape. He set me back down, but didn’t let me go.

“We should get back. It’s about time to eat lunch,” I said knowing Niall would be all about getting to the food.

“Can I ask you something first?” he asked a little shyly.

“Anything. Well, except marriage, because I think we’re a little too young for that,” I joked.

“Would you go out with me Princess?” he asked, his blue eyes sparkling and full of hope.

“Of course I would,” I smile and kiss him again.

He smiled, relieved, and walked me, tucked into him with his arm around my waist, back to the guest bedroom.


	6. The Date

Niall’s P.O.V.

“Can I have a medium cheese and a medium pepperoni, please?” I ordered from Pizza Hut over the telephone. “Yeah, thanks.”

“Move it, stupid Wario,” I heard LeAnn yelled from her nest of bedding. I laughed to myself as I made my way over to sit next to her. “Ugh, Peach! What the heck?!”

“What’d she do now?” I asked grabbing the bag of chips sitting in between us.

“She hit me and I fell off the stupid mushrooms and now I’m last,” she explained rapidly moving to get her first place back. She was quite sexy when she was competitive.

“Well, I called in for the pizza and he said it would be done in about 30 minutes,” I said popping another chip into my mouth.

“Yes!” she cheered.

“Excited about the pizza?” I asked, not exactly expecting that reaction.

“Huh? No, I just won! Take that Peach!” she yelled at the TV. I laughed at how naïve she could be. “So what did you say about the pizza?” she asked turning towards me.

“That it will be ready to pick up in about 30ish minutes,” I answered smiling at her. She smiled back. She had such a beautiful smile and I was one of the only people to see it.

“What are we going to do in that time?” she asked slightly raising her eyebrows.

“Whatever you would like to do Princess,” I replied hoping it wouldn’t be too crazy.

“Well, in that case, let’s play some MARIO KART!” she sing-songed. She reached up and grabbed me down a remote. “Here you go,” she said as she gracefully put it in my hands. “Hope you’re prepared to lose.”

“I could say the same to you,” I teased, knowing that she could kick my butt any day.

“Bring it,” she said as she started a two-player race on Rainbow Road.

“Hey! This isn’t fair,” I protested. I was complete crap at this and Rainbow Road was by far my worst.

“Too late for fair,” she said as the time counted down and the game started. She quickly gained first place while I was still stuck in last place. I kept falling off the stupid road. I don’t understand how she does it. “I thought you said you were good at this.”

“Well, compared to the boys I am,” I answered truthfully. But then again, the boys didn’t really play it as often as I did.

“Wow, they must really suck if you can beat them,” she teased, looking away from the TV long enough to flash me a smile.

“Ha-ha. Very funny,” I replied keeping my eyes on the TV at all costs.

“I thought so,” she said looking back at the TV, skillfully avoiding another banana and crossing the finish line. “Wahoo! I won!”

“I wouldn’t have guessed that you would win,” I said teasing, even though I was still on lap 1 and in 12th place.

“Don’t be so mean,” she laughed as she lightly pushed me, causing me to fall off the road, again. Just as I was back on the track, Finish flashed across my screen.

“This is unfair,” I sulked, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Aw! The poor superstar isn't used to losing,” she mocked, putting her bottom lip out. I tried to retaliate, but I couldn’t think of anything. She just laughed as she reached over to check her phone. “Hey Niall?”

“Yeah?” I asked wondering what she would need to tell me.

“You wouldn’t mind if Marisa and Louis came over, would you?” she asked looking up from the phone’s screen.

“Nah, it’s up to you,” I said turning back to the TV, only to see my character, Mario, sitting on a bike shaking his head. Wow, it’s really bad when a character is disappointed in you.

“Okay, I’ll tell them they can come up,” she said going back to her iPhone.

“Make sure to tell them to bring their own lunch,” I added not wanting to share my pizza with anyone.

“Why can’t we share?” she asked looking slightly confused. “Oh,” she said, “duh.” I just laughed as she texted Marisa.

“They’ll be up in a little bit,” LeAnn said, hibernating her phone and picking up her Wii remote.

“What are we going to do until then?” I asked a little scared, but willing to do whatever it is.

“Mario Kart?” she suggested.

“I don’t really want to play anymore,” I confessed. She laughed.

“More like you don’t want to lose anymore,” she joked.

“I just don’t want to play anymore,” I repeated.

“Fine,” she said setting down her controller. She came over, took mine, and put both of them away in her glass cabinet. She then went into her hidden closet and got out a fairly large box. She flashed me a smile when she saw I was watching her. She opened the box and brought out a black circle on a stand.

I gave her quizzical look and she just smiled again and went to shut off the lights. It was pitch dark, so I couldn’t see anything. I could hear her shuffling back to the box and hitting something, most likely the table. Let’s just say a couple choice words were made. There were a few seconds of silence and a little blue spark. Then the room suddenly became filled with random-colored circles. Soon after, music started blaring from the same spot.

“Dance Party!” LeAnn cheered as she made her way to the middle of her floor. “Come join me Niall.”

I laughed to myself and quickly joined her in her random dancing. To be honest, she has some really good dance moves. But then again, not so much…

“Dance Party?!” I heard someone yell from the doorway. I looked over just in time to see Marisa drag Louis into the middle of the room. Louis looked a little shocked at first, but then started to dance wildly alongside Marisa. Our interesting dancing lasted for several more songs, eventually ending about 20 minutes later.

“Hey Niall,” LeAnn said absolutely out of breath, “Don’t we have to go get the pizza?”

“Oh, yeah,” I said completely forgetting about the pizza during our mini dance party. “Hey Lou, wanna come with me to get the pizza?”

“Sure,” Louis replied, “as long as I get a slice.”

“You can have some of LeAnn’s,” I said, not willing to give up any of mine.

“Hey!” LeAnn protested, “You can’t give away my pizza!”

“I just did,” I said right before I bolted out of her room with Louis hot on my tail.

“I’ll get you for that Niall,” I heard LeAnn say as I left her mansion. Louis and I got into Marisa’s beat-up car and headed towards Pizza Hut to get our lunch. Yummy in my tummy!


	7. Goodbye

LeAnn’s P.O.V.

“He’s going to get it,” I muttered as I made my way back to my room.

“Don’t worry about it,” Marisa said helping herself to one of my many snacks.

“I won’t. He still has to come back. Plus he has to pay for it,” I said a little triumphant about the paying thing.

“LeAnn, he has enough money to buy the country of Mexico,” Marisa said digging into my fridge to get out an RC.

“I highly doubt it,” I said grabbing an RC for myself.

“Well, if you pooled all their money they’ve ever earned, they probably could,” she said still not giving up on the point.

“Half of that money you speak of is already spent on pointless things like flowers,” I retorted.

“Flowers aren’t pointless,” Marisa said almost spilling her drink from slamming it on my counter.

“They kinda are. You buy them, they’re fresh for a couple days, and then they die. It’s as simple as that,” I said stating the facts that I knew.

“Whatever,” she said taking another drink of the RC and sitting down on my nest. “So, how has your date with Niall been?”

I almost spewed my soda. “It’s not a date,” I said stubbornly. Well it kinda is, but who cares!

“Lies,” she said casually as though talking about the weather, “You two are in love. And plus, it’s right here in your texts.”

“Marisa!” I groaned, “God.” I glare at her, “Stop looking through my phone!” I said that as if I was complaining about a sibling taking a not-so-important-but-I-don’t-want-them-to-touch-it-object.

“Not until you admit that this is a date,” she said as she kept scrolling through our texts.

“It’s not a date!” I said setting my drink down and making my way over to her. I tried to snitch my phone away from her by jumping her. She moved it right before my hand reached it.

“Then I can go through your messages,” she taunted.

“Give me back my phone,” I said lunging at her again.

“Nuh, uh, uh,” she said moving my phone just out of reach.

“Fine,” I grumbled, “it’s a date.”

“Yay!” she cheered handing me back my phone. “LeAnn’s on her first date. And it’s a double date.”

“What do you mean double da—wait, you and Louis are dating!?” I asked half from shock and half from disbelief. Marisa never dated anyone, didn’t even like anyone. And now she’s telling me she’s dating someone she just met yesterday?! Wow, does she know how to surprise you.

“Of course we’re dating,” she laughed as though it was a stupid question. “So are you and Niall right?” she asked looking at me so intently, I knew I couldn’t lie to her.

“Yes,” I mumbled under my breath, but evidently loud enough for her to hear.

“I knew it,” she celebrated to herself, “I just knew it.” She turned to look at me. “I knew you would find someone. So has he kissed you yet?” she propped her head on her palms and waited for an answer.

“Actually, he has,” I said remembering the secret tunnel, “I have something to show you,” I said eager for her to see the library.

“Is it really that important?” she asked looking exasperated.

“Yes. You’ll love it, I promise,” I said helping her up from the beanbag and leading her to the secret library.

 

Niall’s P.O.V.

“Smith,” I told the woman behind the counter. She nodded and went in the back to get the pizzas.

“Wow mate,” Louis breathed, “this place is tiny.” I couldn’t argue with him. Since it was small town Nebraska, everything was five times smaller than what we were used to. Well, the sizes of the buildings anyway.

“Here you go,” she said handing Louis the pizza, “Two medium pizzas. That would be $16.97 please.” It honestly hadn’t occurred to me that I would have to pay in American money, or dollars.

“Um,” I said dumb-founded.

“Here you go, mate,” Louis said digging a $20 bill out of his pocket.

“Thanks man,” I said handing the woman the money.

“Thank you and have a nice day,” she called as we left the building.

“You too,” I answered back. “Thanks Lou,” I said entirely thankful that he was with me.

“No problem. Now you just have to owe me two pieces of pizza,” he said smiling cheekily. Leave it to Louis to want what I wanted most: pizza.

“You can have two of LeAnn’s,” I said figuring it was a nice idea.

“Nope. It has to be from yours,” he said.

“Why can’t it be from LeAnn’s?” I asked opening the car door.

“Because she didn’t need $20,” he said putting the pizzas in the back and climbing into the front seat. “Dude, American cars are weird,” he commented as we drove back to LeAnn’s.

 

 

LeAnn’s P.O.V.

“Holy crap! It’s huge!” Marisa remarked in complete awe as she twirled around the room. She suddenly stopped, turned, and raced towards a bookshelf. “Do you think it has the Golden Compass?” she asked as she started to scan through the books.

“It might. I don’t really know. I didn’t have enough time to look through the shelves,” I said moving to the opposite side of the room and searching the shelves.

“What do you mean ‘you didn’t have enough time’? What were you doing? Kissing?” Marisa asked still looking for her book. I froze for a little bit, but soon continued looking for her book. She would understand my answer from my silence.

“You two kissed down here?” she asked a little disgusted. I didn’t notice her make her way over to me. “That’s gross LeAnn,” she whispered in my ear, “but I guess I should be happy for you.” I turned around to make a comment, but she was back to the other side of the room.

“Girls?” I heard Niall yell from the guest bedroom. I could smell the fresh pizza from here.

“Found it!” Marisa cheered grabbing the book off the shelf and skipping back to the bedroom. I just sighed and followed behind her.

“Hey Princess,” Niall said draping his arm around my shoulders. I giggled and rested my head against his side. He smiled and we stayed like that until we reached the food. I broke from our embrace, reached for a couple plates and served myself some pizza. I was staved! It’s hard work winning Mario Kart.

“Mind if I have any?” Marisa asked, using intense puppy eyes.

“Go ahead,” I said nodding towards the pizza. She quickly thanked me, grabbed a plate, and loading up on pizza.

“Can I turn on some Sherlock?” Marisa asked.

“Yes please. I’ll be there in a little bit,” I said grabbing a RC.

“What are you doing? I was watching that,” I heard Niall say from the other room.

“I’m turning on Sherlock, so you can just deal with it,” Marisa sassed as she started up Netflix.

“That’s why she’s mine,” Louis whispered as I entered the room. Marisa looked pleased at that comment and sat down next to Louis. She clicked season one, episode one. No better place to start than from the beginning.

I made my way over to Niall’s right side, since Louis was on the left. I set my food and drink down while I situated myself. I picked up the pizza and listened to the show.

 

~~~~

 

Niall’s P.O.V.

 

“Goodbye John,” Sherlock said from the top of the building. He tossed the phone to the side and jumped. I felt LeAnn shaking next to me. I looked over at her to find tears streaming down her face. She was squeezing her body pillow tightly. I put my arm around her to try to comfort her, but she just pushed me off.

“Well, that was just—“ Louis started, but was shushed by Marisa.

“I hate him for this. I really do. This is annoying. I hate him,” Marisa kept saying repeatedly.

“Marisa, shh,” LeAnn said, giving her a pointed look. Marisa just gave her a ‘well-its-true’ look. I kept my eyes on the screen and saw what Marisa was so angry about.

“Well, that was just fabulous,” Marisa said as the credit began to roll.

“Hey Niall, what time is it?” Lou asked looking over at me.

“Um,” I said, checking my pockets for my phone.

“5:30,” LeAnn said looking up from her watch. She had dried her tears from Sherlock.

“Hate to say it, but we got to get back. Paul’s going to kill us if we’re late,” Louis said stating the obvious.

“We’re not leaving until 7. Can’t we wait until then?” I asked, not wanting to leave.

“I guess. I’ll text the boys to see what they’re doing,” Louis said pulling out his phone.

“Hey Louis, why don’t you just tell them to meet us at the park? We’ll bring the food,” LeAnn suggested.

“Great idea LeA,” Marisa said starting to type away on her phone.

“Who are you inviting?” I asked, not really thinking.

“Kitra and Rachel. Duh,” she said rolling her eyes at me and continued typing.

“Right,” I mumbled to myself.

“The boys’ll meet us at the park,” Louis said putting his phone back in his pocket.

“Let’s get cooking,” Marisa said already heading downstairs with Louis on her tail. “I found this really cool recipe.” Her voice growing fainter as she descended the stairs.

“What recipe is she talking about?” I asked trying to make conversation.

“I never know. She finds them all online and thinks she has to make every single one of them,” she said lying back on her nest.

“Oh,” was all I said as I laid down next to her. I really didn’t want this day to end. But I have her number, so it can’t be all that bad. “I love you,” I said looking over at her only to meet her beautiful blue eyes.

“I love you, too,” she said before leaning in to kiss me lightly. She cuddled into me and was soon asleep. I held her close and stayed like that for a while. ‘I’m so lucky to have met her’ was my last thought before I drifted off.


End file.
